VAQ-135 'Black Ravens' participated in exercise Red Flag 13-3 at Nellis AFB in early March 2013. Red Flag 13-3 was the first large force exercise undertaken by VAQ-135 since it returned from deployment to Bagram AB, Afghanistan.

EA-18G BuNo 168377/’DD523' carries a standard Growler payload comprising an external fuel tank and an ALQ-99 pod under each wing. The upper part of each pylon is marked with an orange patch denoting a test fitting.

Winner: the Department of the Navy's budget request included procurement of 21 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft and the establishment of two more expeditionary electronic attack (VAQ) squadrons.

Exercise Cope North Guam 2014 was held between February 14 and 28, 2014. It was a multilateral training exercise conducted from Andersen AFB, Guam, and involved around 80 aircraft from the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and US Air Force and Navy. Air-to-air training was conducted involving dissimilar air combat scenarios, air-to-ground sorties and simulated humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. This formation of participants comprises an EA-18G Growler of VAG-132 (tailcode ‘NL’), F-16C Fighting Falcon from the 35th Fighter Wing (‘WW), an 18th Wing F-15D Eagle (ZZj, a B-52H Stratofortress from the 20th Bomb Squadron ('LA'), JASDF F-15J (22-0929 of 204 Hikotai) and Mitsubishi F-2A, an RAAF No. 75 Squadron F/A-18A Hornet and an F-16C of the 364th Fighter Wing (‘AK').

VAQ-132’s CAG-bird Growler BuNo 166894/’NL540' refuels from a US Air Force KC-135R Stratotanker. The squadron’s EA-18Gs undertook multiple air-refuellings and received up to 50,000 lbs of fuel during some of the missions flown over Libya while operating from Aviano AB in northern Italy.

VAQ-132 EA-18G BuNo 166894/’NL540’ lands at Aviano AB, Italy following a mission to Libya during Operation Unified Protector. The aircraft is loaded with two AGM-88 HARM missiles, two AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and two ALQ-99 jamming pods.

EA-18G Growler BuNo 166642/’DD500’ (c/n EA-2) was the second prototype built and is currently operated by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX-31) ‘Dust Devils’ based at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California. Its continued operation configured as a test-bed aircraft fitted with the latest systems is the most likely reason for its participation in Red Flag 14-1.

VAQ-141 was deemed ‘safe for flight’ with the EA-18G Growler on February 12, 2010 and made the first carrier deployment with the type in 2011. The squadron flew the first carrier-based EA-18G missions into Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn and the very first EA-18G missions into Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom during its 2011 maiden cruise.

The EA-18Gs of VAQ-139 ‘Cougars' - one of which is pictured at its NAS Whidbey Island base on June 3, 2015 - flew 1,200 sorties and 267 combat missions during their ten-month deployment on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).

To mark the Centenary of Naval Aviation in 2011, VAQ-129 painted EA-18G BuNo 166899/'55’ in a similar colour scheme to that worn by an F4-U Corsair operated by VBF-85 ‘Sky Pirates' aboard USS Shangri-La in 1944.

The first SDD EA-18G Growler aircraft, EA1, spent five months in the anechoic chamber at NAS Patuxent River to assess on-board radar, receiver and jammer compatibility and performance as part of the mission systems test programme.

The ALQ-99 jamming pod’s low-band antennas are housed in a profiled radome while those for the high-band antennas are straight (see image). The Growler will operate with two types of Next Gen Jammer pod, one for high and one for low-band jamming.